Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
DAIRY: Motion
hearing set for May 8
Continued from 1A
and otherwise care for the
cattle, the herd’s value is at
risk of declining, accord-
ing to Rabobank.
Rabobank is now seek-
ing “relief” from
the
automatic
stay of te Velde’s
property foreclo-
sure under bank-
ruptcy law to
allow for an auc-
tion and avoid
“potentially cat-
astrophic conse-
quences” to its
collateral at Lost
Valley Farm.
A bankruptcy
judge will consider the
motion at a hearing set for
May 8 in Fresno, Calif.,
during which te Velde will
also ask to use cash that
serves as collateral for
debt.
Te Velde said he had
no comment about Rabo-
bank’s claims and Capital
Press was unable to reach
the attorney representing
him in the bankruptcy case.
After several loans went
into default, Te Velde had
the opportunity to restruc-
ture his “massive debt
load” during a “lengthy”
forbearance agreement that
expired at the end of 2017,
but he never developed
such a plan, according to
Rabobank.
In its court filing,
Rabobank claims te Vel-
de’s “erratic and unreli-
able” behavior is caused
by “habitual” use of meth-
amphetamine,
which
prompted a subsidiary
of the Tillamook County
Creamery Association to
cancel its milk-buying
contract with the dairy.
Te Velde has “no cash
on hand” and wouldn’t be
able to continue operat-
ing his dairies without $4
million in advances from
Rabobank to pay for feed,
water and labor at the facil-
ity, according to Rabo-
bank’s filing.
“While Rabobank will
act responsibly to pro-
tect the value of the LVF
herd, Rabobank is not will-
ing to finance
the drug-addled
fanciful dreams
of this Debtor
during a lengthy
Chapter 11 case
that
involves
about
24,000
cows,
28,000
other head of
livestock, three
dairies in two
states and about
$160 million in
total debt,” the company
said in a court filing.
Rabobank claims that te
Velde checked out of a drug
rehab clinic in April to con-
vince Columbia River Pro-
cessing — the Tillamook
creamery’s affiliate — to
reinstate the milk-buying
contract, but then returned
to the facility.
“As a regulated finan-
cial institution, Rabobank
cannot continue to lend to
a borrower in this condi-
tion,” the company said.
Patrick Criteser, CEO
of the Tillamook cream-
ery, submitted a declara-
tion in support of Rabo-
bank’s request and stated
the company has withheld
milk proceeds from Lost
Valley Farm due to agri-
cultural service liens filed
by other unpaid creditors.
The subsidiary, Colum-
bia River Processing, or
CRP, is buying milk from
the dairy until Rabobank is
able to conduct an auction
but will stop after May 31.
“In no event, however,
is CRP willing to con-
tinue to accept and pay for
milk from the dairy on an
ongoing basis, other than
that for a short period and
solely to facilitate an auc-
tion of te Velde’s herd,” he
said.
Te Velde
argues
he
cannot
pay his
labor.
BOUNDS: Born in Umatilla raised in Hermiston
Continued from 1A
tions of the home state sena-
tors. Refusing to play by the
rules when the rules don’t
suit you is bad enough, but
in government it fuels cyni-
cism, partisanship, and pub-
lic disgust.”
The controversy
Neither senator has issued
a “blue slip” in favor of
Bounds, a stamp of approval
from senators when the pres-
ident nominates a judicial
candidate from their home
state. Federal judge candi-
dates don’t usually advance
to a committee hearing with-
out a that slip.
Merkley and Wyden ini-
tially opposed the politically
conservative Bounds’ nomi-
nation in September because
it hadn’t gone through a
bipartisan review process.
President Donald Trump
renominated Bonds in Janu-
ary and a bipartisan commit-
tee of lawyers recommended
Bounds in a list of four final-
ists in February.
But after they submitted
their list, the liberal advo-
cacy organization Alliance
for Justice reported on sev-
eral op-eds Bounds wrote
for a student-run publication
as an undergraduate at Stan-
ford University in the 1990s.
— the person in between the
governor and state agency
heads.
Coba estimates that about
75 percent of her time is
spent on COO duties, and
the remaining 25 percent
leading the Department of
Administrative
Services,
which oversees a broad
range of statewide services
such as procurement and risk
management, and houses the
offices of the state econo-
mist and chief information
officer.
When she was appointed,
Coba made a list of her pri-
orities in the new post:
recruit a younger and more
diverse state workforce;
advocate for accountabil-
ity and transparency in state
government; foster govern-
ment leadership and restore
trust in government.
A year and a half later,
she’s the first to say that the
state will have to work hard,
especially in a prosperous
economy, to hire the next
generation of public ser-
vants to stave off a wave of
impending retirements.
As of mid-2017, 34 per-
cent of the state workforce
was eligible to retire. Under
Coba’s leadership, DAS has
created an online “toolkit”
that state agencies can use to
think through their succes-
sion planning.
But she says that the state
will have to find a way to
make a career in government
attractive to young workers.
“A lot of work needs to be
done there,” Coba said. “A
lot of opportunity for those
that don’t work in govern-
ment, but again, how do you
convince them that you can
really do cool things work-
ing in state government? I
don’t think people put those
two words together, ‘state
government,’ and ‘cool.’”
And then there’s another
workforce challenge Coba
has been focused on:
leadership.
While critics of the gov-
ernor have pointed to turn-
over among state agency
heads, Coba says she doesn’t
think the amount of turnover
is abnormal, especially in
an era where people move
more frequently between
positions and employers.
“We’re seeing workforce
turnover more often any-
way,” Coba says. “We see
that at the agency director
level for a whole host of dif-
ferent reasons.”
Not all of those agency
director departures, of
course, were voluntary, such
as the August departure of
Oregon Health Authority
Director Lynne Saxton and,
in March, State Librarian
MaryKay Dahlgreen.
But most director depar-
tures, Coba says, were retire-
ments and directors moving
on to other jobs.
Coba, who works “in
concert” with the Gover-
nor’s Office to help and
evaluate state agency lead-
ers, says each situation is
different.
“There isn’t a standard
process we use,” she says.
“It is situation specific.”
Lisa Sumption, direc-
tor of the Oregon Parks and
Recreation
Department,
says Coba recognized the
need for more training for
new agency directors.
“Katy saw the gap, and
said, we need a new agency
directors’ forum,” Sumption
said.
Sumption and ODOT
Director Matt Garrett are
both quick to praise Coba.
“She focuses, I think,
her attention on doing what
is right, what is just, rather
than doing what is politi-
cally expedient,” Garrett
said. “I’m a big Katy Coba
fan.”
Garrett describes Coba’s
In his writings, Bounds
railed against “multicul-
turalists” on campus, uni-
versities that punished or
expelled students accused of
rape without proving their
case “beyond a reasonable
doubt,” students protesting
a union-busting hotel, and
the idea of “sensitivity” after
intoxicated athletes vandal-
ized a gay pride statue.
After the op-eds were
publicized, Bounds dis-
tanced himself from those
comments, calling them
“the objectionable words
and views recited from
three or four of my college
op-eds (that) do not reflect
the views I have hewn to as
a lawyer and, frankly, as a
grown-up.”
But Bounds’ apologies
weren’t enough to reverse
Wyden and Merkley’s
opposition.
“That lack of honesty
made Mr. Bounds an unsuit-
able nominee for a lifetime
appointment to the bench,”
they said Monday. “Simply
put, this all adds up to one
more piece of troubling evi-
dence of the Republicans
changing the rules to pack
the courts.”
Despite the controversy,
Bounds’ local support has
remained steadfast.
Walden issued a state-
ment after the Alliance for
Justice report reiterating his
support for Bounds.
Pendleton Mayor John
Turner, Hermiston Mayor
David Drotzmann, and
the Oregon Wheat Grow-
ers League were among the
individuals and groups that
supported Bounds’ original
nomination in 2017. Follow-
ing the op-ed controversy,
a group calling themselves
Friends of Ryan Bounds
wrote an open letter to the
Senate Judiciary Committee
extolling Bounds’ qualities.
The group included Herm-
iston attorney Sally Ander-
son-Hansell and high rank-
ing officials from Western
Oregon University, Legacy
Emmanuel Hospital in Port-
land, Starbucks Coffee Co.,
and American Medical Con-
cepts Inc.
Bounds was born in Uma-
tilla and grew up in Hermis-
ton before leaving home to
attend Stanford and Yale.
Bounds has worked as a
commercial lawyer in Port-
land, a federal prosecutor for
the District of Columbia and
an assistant to the President
on domestic policy. He is the
brother of Lorissa Bounds,
Walden’s chief of staff.
The rest of the process
Although both Oregon
senators oppose Bounds,
neither sits on the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
If Bounds is able to
receive approval from the
committee and confirmation
from the full U.S. Senate,
the 44-year-old will achieve
a historical rarity.
The last time federal judi-
cial nominees advanced to
the Senate Judiciary Com-
mittee without a blue slip
from both home state sena-
tors was in 2003 and 2004,
and none of the four can-
didates were confirmed,
according to McClatchy.
The
Congressional
Research Service couldn’t
find an instance where a
nominee without at least one
blue slip was approved by
the Senate.
The Ninth District Circuit
Court of Appeals hears con-
stitutional cases appealed at
the Circuit Court level and
covers a massive geographic
area that includes, Oregon,
California,
Washington,
Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii,
Idaho, Montana Nevada,
and Guam.
The court, which has
29 active judges, has come
under criticism from Trump
due to the liberal majority on
the bench.
AL FRESCO: Future of parklets remains unclear
Continued from 1A
said, and even create space
to promote events.
“We would still like to
have it so much,” Schulberg
said.
Whitney Minthorn at
Moe Pho Noodles & Cafe,
which recently opened near
the Great Pacific, said out-
side seating is good for busi-
ness. People walking and
driving past get to smell and
see the food, as well as cus-
tomers enjoying themselves.
“Any time we have some-
one sitting outside, we get
busy,” he said.
While some see down-
COBA: Majority of time
is focused on COO duties
Continued from 1A
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
leadership style as both col-
laborative and consistent.
Sumption says Coba
is also helpful in “navi-
gating” discussions about
state agency budgets at the
legislature.
State Sen. Alan DeBoer,
R-Ashland, who sits on leg-
islative committees focused
on information technol-
ogy and general govern-
ment operations, says he’s
“impressed” with her work
so far.
“I can only tell you from
my experience meeting with
her and her testifying in
front of committees, that I’m
very impressed with her,”
DeBoer said. “I think she’ll
do a great job.”
Democratic Gov. Kate
Brown, said in a statement
that Coba “has become
invaluable to my vision for
effective and efficient gov-
ernment services.”
Yet other hurdles lie
ahead. The state has had
mixed success updating leg-
acy technology systems. A
new statewide phone sys-
tem has encountered hic-
cups. The state’s human
resources system, which is
30 years old, is also in need
of updating.
Rather than building its
own system, the state is
using software-as-a-service
technology that the contrac-
tor, IBM, will continually
update.
Coba is looking for ways
to streamline state tech-
nology, says Sumption,
who chairs a state govern-
ment leadership steering
committee on information
technology.
“She’s focusing in on
the efficiencies of govern-
ment to say, ‘Hold on, we
don’t need 100 payroll sys-
tems or 100 HR systems.
We need one, and we’re not
really that unique,’” Sump-
tion said.
town parking at a premium,
Minthorn said losing a few
spaces would not hurt busi-
nesses due to all the parking
in and around downtown.
“There’s plenty of park-
ing,” he said. “You just have
to walk a little bit.”
Denight and Molly
Turner,
the
Pendleton
Downtown
Association’s
executive director, reached
that same conclusion in their
study last year. They looked
at 650 parkings spaces
in and around downtown
— the 311 public parking
spaces and the 339 on-street
parking spaces — and found
that, on average, more than
half of parking spaces were
vacant at any given time.
And the vacancy for the six
public lots near Main Street
often neared 70 percent.
Turner said the Down-
town Association would get
behind a push for parklets
if there was more interests-
from downtown businesses,
and obviously some already
support the idea. But the
bigger issue is the vacancy
in the public lots in and near
downtown, including the
lots on either side of the 500
block of South Main Street.
“We’d need to see
increased utilization of the
public lots,” she said.
Kim Burt said Pendleton
blocks off Main Street park-
ing during Round-Up week,
plus the south end of Main
loses parking on Fridays
from May through October
to accommodate the Farmers
Market. There’s other events
that draw people downtown.
The larger point, she said,
is Pendleton is a tourism
spot. Parklets help make for
an inviting downtown. Just
how much does the loss of
a few spaces matter if tour-
ists keep coming back to
Pendleton?
GoodHealth LIVE
WITH CHRISTOPHER K. SCOTT, D.C.,
CHIROPRACTIC MEDICINE
The Chiropractor
& You
Join Dr. Christopher K. Scott as he shares
common chiropractic conditions he cares for
right here in Hermiston.
Wednesday, May 30
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Good Shepherd Health Care System
Conference Center 1 and 2
610 NW 11th Street | Hermiston, OR 97838
A healthy dessert with light refreshments will be provided
Space is Limited. Register today!
Call 541.667.3509
or Register Online at Eventbrite
Can’t Make it to the Event?
Watch Live at www.facebook.com/gshcsnews